The main proposition by this author, a forensic psychologist, is that there is no such thing as a crime being committed "out of character". His argument is that the character capable of committing the crime was always there, even though it may not have been readily perceived. The author then backs up this statement by examining a number of crimes where everybody thought the crime was out of character. However, in each case, a detailed analysis of the facts showed that not to be the case. The problem, of course, was to get the facts, as opposed to the mirage the criminal wanted the world to see, and there is considerable interest in the methods used to obtain the truth, which generally has to emerge inadvertently. The policy seemed to be, if you can get the criminal to talk for long enough, sooner or later clues will slip out, and of course, the criminal can be confronted with statements others have made about him.
The reason I bought this book was that, as an author, I wanted to know something about villains. As it happens, my father was in the New Zealand Police, so I had some concept of criminals, however our criminals always seemed to me to be self-centred, irresponsible individuals that wanted to dominate, and who felt the world owed them something. They were also people who seemed to have no concept of what their actions were doing to others. One way or another, I felt these were a particularly bad sample, and I bought this book to get some clues as to "real criminals". What I found was that they were not that much different, except that the author has a much clearer way of describing what is wrong with them.
What I particularly liked about this book is that the author maintains a professional scientific approach to his enquiries without looping off into unnecessary jargon. He shows clear procedures to patiently acquire the facts without letting his own biases into the picture (although I suspect he would hardly be human if occasionally something did not get the better of him) then he shows logically why this defines the character that committed the crime, which was totally "in character". He also shows that the errors of thinking that lead to such a crime are present in most people to some extent. The difference is that when we wallow for a while in self-pity due to rejection, we get over it and proceed to deal properly with the situation, and move on. The criminal does not, and eventually does something that he knows is wrong, and would not tolerate it in anyone else. In some ways, the analysis is depressing, but I think this is an excellent book for anyone wanting some understanding of the criminal mind.
Ian Miller, author of Troubles.
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